Bills Central

Bills could be without significant defensive stud in AFC title game against Chiefs

The Bills defeated the Ravens in the divisional round matchup, but it could come at a cost due to a significant injury to a defensive star.

Ronnie Eastham

Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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The Buffalo Bills have been fortunate to this point with the health of their players, which hasn't been the case the last couple of seasons. When this team is healthy, they are extremely difficult to beat. The Bills went into their matchup with the Baltimore Ravens, with no significant injuries.

Unfortunately, this was not the case as the game concluded. During his Monday press conference, Bills coach Sean McDermott said that corner Christian Benford suffered a concussion during the Ravens onside attempt and is in concussion protocol.

If the Bills are required to take the field next week against the Chiefs in the AFC title game, it will be a significant setback to their defense. Benford is the team's top cornerback, and according to PFF, he is ranked as the fifth-highest cornerback in the league with a grade of 82.6. In last season's playoff game against the Chiefs, the Bills were also without Benford, and with such contested battles between these two teams, Buffalo needs on the field.

The Bills defense has been inconsistent this season, with terrific performances at times, but awful at other times. If Benford can't play on Sunday, look for the Bills to have Kaiir Elam or Ja'Marcus Ingram active to fill his role opposite Rasul Douglas. Both players have played well at times, but are not on the same level as Benford.

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs will take advantage of whoever is playing the number two corner, and target him early and often. There isn't a better coach in the league at designing plays that expose a defense's weakness, and if Elam or Ingram are on the field, rest assured, they will viewed as a weakness and targeted early and often throughout the game.

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Ronnie Eastham
RONNIE EASTHAM

Ronnie began covering the NFL and the Buffalo Bills three years ago, including content across outlets such as FanSided, Buffalo Rumblings podcasts, On SI and video content for Built In Buffalo.